Category Archives: Recommendations

Hi I’m Simon and I’ll give you some recommendations again today, with a dungeon city, a cute but equally brutal fantasy and a not so normal teacher. So lets jump right in.

First off will be Danmachi, or “Is it wrong to pick up girls in a Dungeon?” No seriously that’s the translated name.

As I’ve come across several lightnovel adaptations in the last few weeks, most of which have this kind of fantasy setting, I thought this would be the best out of them all to recommend. Translating the video-game principle of Dungeons into a fantasy world where Adventurers living in the city of Orario make their living by going down into the dungeon beneath the city to scavenge and level up their abilities. That skill boosting is done by their respective god or goddess. In this city lives the rookie adventurer Bell Kranel with his goddess. Fantasy, Action, Romance and Comedy, this is for everyone.

Chapters: 19 (ongoing)

Author/Artist: Oomori Fujino/Kunieda

Second will be Tail Star

What Akama ga Kill does, Tail Star takes even further. Under a cute artstyle waits a brutal, harsh and sad story. Tail Star takes place in a world where the dark queen triumphed over the queen of light and now tries to plunge the world into chaos. Sanagi and Mayu are children of a tribe that’s become the latest victim of the dark queen and now try to take revenge on her.

Author/Artist: Okama

Chapters: 13 (ongoing)

And last but not least, Great Teacher Onizuka

This old but awesome manga/anime is among my alltime favorites. While the manga is much longer and consequently much more awesome, it is a pain in the ass to read. That is because there’s huge amounts of unnecessary text, making the overall experience, although awesome as it is, pretty tiring.

Nonetheless, watch the anime. It is a great mixture of feelgood, comedy and just general awesomeness. If you then decide on reading the manga, that is awesome, but give the anime a chance, it will definitely not disappoint you.

Author/Artist: Fujisawa Tooru

Chapters: 200 (completed) plus several spin-offs

And with those recommendations I leave you, hopefully you find something among them you will enjoy.

Hi I’m Simon and this time I bring you some recommendations again. Today we have the thrilling story of a hacker, along with an innocent and cute comedy about grown-ups and an anime about a master assassin who doesn’t allow anyone to stand behind him.

So let’s start off with Bloody Monday.

Fujimura Takagi is a genius hacker, who has even helped out the secret agency of Third-I in the past. Now he is being involved in a huge terrorist plot as he tries to stop it and protect his sister and friends in the process. I recommend anyone to read the first season (a little under 100 chapters) since it is not especially violent, dark or complex, but easily the best story and the most thrilling one. However, as the story gets a little less good with every season, the characters develop much more and have a focus on their own. So, for a sense of closure and fans of unconventional romance, I recommend the second and third season too. Just know that it is necessary to read the first season to understand the second and so on. A thrilling story, nice romance, an especially cute but badass heroine and great artstyle make Bloody Monday a great read.

Chapters: 201 chapters in 3 seasons (completed, each with their own closed story, but overarching character-relationships)

Author/Artist: Ryomon Ryo / Megumi Kouji

Next, Bonnouji.

26 years old Ozawa Michiyo just broke up with her 5-year-boyfriend when she meets Oyazawa Zenji, a young man in her apartment building, who gets weird presents and souvenirs from his travel-crazy brother. Time and time again she goes down to his apartment to explore, talk and the occasional drink. This is a very lighthearted, short comedy peaking in an innocent romance. It is very funny in many weird ways and extremely fun to read, with out any drama, heartbreak(except for the beginning) or stupid misunderstandings. Since it is not long and rather episodic, it’s a nice and funny read for anyone.

Chapters: 36 (completed)

Author/Artist: Aki Eda

And last but not least, the anime Golgo 13.

Duke Togo, the master assassin otherwise known as Golgo13 never leaves a target alive and always has the right scheme up his sleeve to get the possibility. Very resourceful and interesting ways Duke gets his targets are portrayed in the anime, one per episode to be specific. Without overarching story and Duke Togo being the only regular character Golgo13 is very interesting to watch if you don’t have anything against weapons or stories about hitmen. If you want more, the anime is a part of a big franchise of live-action movies, games and the original, the manga.

Episodes: 50

Studio: The Answer Studio, directed by Shunji Oga

Well, I hope there is something that suits your taste, if you want comment or send me a tweet @ nolazyway 😀

Got to watch The Lion King (musical) with housemates today. Gosh. It was so damn brilliant. I’m so glad I managed to catch it here in Brisbane. Missed it when it was in Singapore OTL

Things’ve been pretty busy as of late. Here I was thinking I’d have more time free after submitting final assignments of the semester, but I was totally wrong… the last few days’ve been hectic what with going out with friends and last minute shopping before I head back tomorrow.

Today’s going to be short and on a BL because I have less than an hour to get this out and still gotta pack.

Manga: Kurayami ni Strobe 「くらやみにストロボ」 A Strobe in the Darkness

Kurayami ni Strobe cover

Kurayami ni Strobe is a 5-chapter (with 3 extras), 1 volume Boys Love (Shounen Ai) manga written and illustrated by Hayakawa Nojiko. It was published in the…

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So I hurt my wrist working yesterday, which is why there was no “regular” post then, and there’ll probably not be one tomorrow either, but I’ll try to keep my blog active and give you some news articles and recommendations, along with what I’ve been reading lately until I can type without hurting again 😀

So let’s start with some new recommendations:

First off, Masamune-kun no Revenge.

Chapters: 19 (ongoing) Author/Artist: Takeoka Hazuki

This is a pure comedy with some romance aspects. It’s about a boy named Masamune Makabe, who was pretty chummy as a kid. When he then tried to confess to the beautiful, but arrogant Adagaki, he gets shot down. Many years later, in highschool, he has steeled his body and resolved to get his revenge on Adagaki, by making her fall for him and then rejecting her. But Adagaki is notorious for always rejecting confessions in the most insulting way possible, always seeing to it that the whole school knows about it. So how will this play out?

Drifters portraits a world full with elves and magic, where some great figures of history (Nobunaga, Hijikata, Billy the Kid, Scipio, etc…) go after they die. There, they are called “Drifters” by the inhabitants. Also, the drifters fight against other Drifters, which makes for a fun fight. It contains much great humour, but also violence. If you liked Hellsing, this is definitely for you.

So, going on to what I’ve been reading lately.

For one, there’s Dance In the Vampire Bund, which is awesome. It contains large amounts of nudity, so be careful if you don’t like that. Who am I kidding?

Then there’s Denki-Gai no Honya-san and Yotsuba&! both of which are hilariously funny. Denki-Gai is currently running as an anime, so that’s cool too.

Denki-Gai no Honya-sanYotsuba&!

And with that, I leave you for today, if possible, I’ll be back tomorrow with a new review, but there’ll be one by friday at the latest.

Iwatani Naofumi was summoned into a parallel world along with three other people to become the world’s heroes and save the kingdom from the Calamity. Each of the heroes were respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi coincidentally received the Legendary Shield as his weapon, the only defensive weapon of the lot. Scorned by everyone for his uselessness, Naofumi’s destiny in a parallel world begins…

Overall Impression

Hands down, Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari takes one of the most unique approaches to the virtual video game genre I’ve ever read / seen. And that is, the light novel incorporates a very real emotional element in its storytelling. Having read many tales in this emerging genre, I am definitely not over-generalizing when I say that most virtual MMORPG stories are lacking in “dramatic complexity.” And that’s perfectly fine because audiences are buying into these stories for the vicarious experience…

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Hi I’m Simon and with this I start the third major category of my this blog: Recommendations.

The three manga I present you today could not be more different. With Akumetsu, we have a macabre and violent manga with lots of dark humour, that presents you with something to think about, Seishun Pop! is a not so light and fluffy story about a band and Mario is a one-shot about a killer by Naruto-creator Masashi Kishimoto.

Akumetsu introduces us to the many Shous (how and why is clarified later in the story), who double as the terrorist Akumetsu, wearing a demon-like mask and killing off influential politicians and such, always following the same procedure and creed of one man one kill.

Akumetsu is violent and has a very dark humour. Be prepared that almost every chapter, someone dies and in a pretty gruesome way at that. The Shous make it their goal to purge Japan of all evil, and so they kill mostly politicians. For every one of the Shous, you get a background story shortly before he dies. And while reading, you are presented with a bit of info on how Japans government works. The art is charismatic and has a kind of wild flair to it. If you’re not weak against blood and you’re not uptight about stories on terrorism, this will definitely be worth a read.

Chapters: 162 (completed)

Author: Yoshiaki Tabata

Artist: Yuki Yugo

Seishun Pop! is a not so nice story about a band, or more specific, Sakuta and his older sister, trying to get their life together. But along their way they encounter some more or less crazy people and a pretty ghastly story develops.

Although it is no hentai, Seishun Pop! contains large amounts of sex and nudity and touches on the topic of incest, so be warned. Between much romance, it has a heavy psychological side to it, so don’t expect a fluffy story about music and romance. Keeping all that in mind, the manga is certainly a good read, though it leaves behind a heavy feeling and a somewhat abrupt, open for interpretation ending. The art is awesome and beautiful to look at, and does well to convey a dark tone when necessary. If you would like a romance with a little depth, and don’t mind some graphic sex-scenes, you won’t be disappointed.

Chapters: 47 (completed)

Author/Artist: Kitakawa Touta

Mario is a one-shot about a hitman named Mario (who’d have thought that) by Masashi Kishimoto from before Naruto 15 years ago. He is a half japanese, half italian contract killer with ties to the mafia, operating in New York, falling in love and getting screwed over (not necessarily by the same person).

Though it is nothing of a grand story, it leaves you with a satisfied feeling, something not many one-shots are able to achieve. Also, there are some sexual innuendos, like about a man’s magnum, but nothing too crazy. The art style is overwhelmingly like Naruto, so you know what to expect. In the end, it’s a nice little story with original characters, and worth the 10 or so minutes to read.

Chapters: 2 (a 4-page prelude and the actual one-shot in another chapter)

Author/Artist: Masashi Kishimoto

So that’s it for now, look forward to the next review on Friday!

If you like my content, please consider following me or send me a tweet @ nolazyway 😀

Summary: At the beginning of the 20th century American Doctor, Duncan MacDougall, engaged in a series of unethical experiments. Those experiments concluded that should one suffer a death not ordained by fate the human body lightened by an average of 21 grams, the weight of a man’s soul stone. Today, two men, Sakarai and Amano, are in the hunt to find people who are about to die before their time and either prevent their unnatural death or recover these stones, “Livingstones.”

Status: Ongoing (6 Chapters)

A/N: ‘What-if’ manga about the weight of a soul. Ever read Deadman Wonderland? Well, the art looks similar to it. Sadly, this manga is on hiatus… still recommend it though.